ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Heavy Industries
Slow Down in Automobile Sector
There are cyclical slowdowns in many economies. 11.7 million vehicles  were sold during April – September 2019 as against 14.1 million vehicles sold during the same period in previous year. But the festival demand has shown year on year growth at 0.3% in the Passenger Vehicle Segment. Retrenchment of temporary workforce has been reported by the industry. However, no confirmed data on job loss is available with the Government.
The Government, as a policymaker, always attempts to keep and improve momentum of the economy through a package of measure for comprehensive and continued development of the auto sector as and when required. Some of the steps taken by the Government to counter automotive slowdown can be summarized as under:
- Reduction in Corporate Tax to 22%
- Continuation of registration of ICE and EV in future
- Scrappage policy under consideration
- Proposed increase in registration of new cars deferred till June 2020
- Funds worth Rs. 70,000 crores released to PSU banks
- Linking of repo rate to interest charged for vehicle purchased
As per the industry estimates, contribution of passenger vehicles to the Gross Domestic Product  has varied between 2.1% to 2.9% and the contribution of the Automotive Sector as a whole to GDP has varied between 6.0% to 7.2% from 2010-11 to 2018-19.
This information was given by the Minister of Heavy Industries & Public Enterprises, Prakash Javadekar, in written replies in the Rajya Sabha yesterday.
Prime Minister's Office
First-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award presented to PM
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today received the first-ever Philip Kotler Presidential award, at 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, in New Delhi.
The Award focuses on the triple bottom-line of People, Profit and Planet. It will be offered annually to the leader of a Nation.
The Award Citation says:
“Shri Narendra Modi is selected for his outstanding leadership for the nation. His selfless service towards India, combined with his tireless energy has resulted in extraordinary economic, social and technological advances in the country.”
The Citation adds: “Under his leadership, India is now identified as the Centre for Innovation and Value Added Manufacturing , as well as a global hub for professional services such as Information Technology, Accounting and Finance.”
The Citation also mentions: “His visionary leadership has also resulted in the Digital Revolution , including the Unique Identification Number, Aadhaar, for social benefits and financial inclusion. It is enabling entrepreneurship, ease of doing business, and creating a 21st century infrastructure for India.”
The Citation mentions initiatives such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India, and Swachh Bharat, “which have positioned India as one of the most lucrative manufacturing and business destinations in the world.”
Prof. Philip Kotler is a world renowned Professor of Marketing at Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management. Owing to his ill-health, he deputed Dr. Jagdish Sheth of EMORY University, Georgia, USA, to confer the award.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
Key decisions taken at the 229th meeting of Central Board of Trustees, the apex decision-making body of EPFO.
, apex decision-making body of EPFO, was held today in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Shri Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Labour & Employment, Vice-chair Shri Rameswar Teli, Minister of State for Labour & Employment, co-vice chair Shri Sunil Barthwal, Secretary  and member secretary Shri Mukhmeet S. Bhatia, Central PF Commissioner, EPFO.
The following key decisions were taken by Central Board, EPF: -
- The suggestion of the Chairman to constitute four sub-committees, comprising members of the Board from employees, employers’ side as well as from representatives of the Government side was welcomed and approved by the Board. Two committees on Establishment related matters and futuristic implementation of Social Security Code will be headed by the Minister of State Labour and Employment. The remaining two committees on Digital capacity building and Pension related issues will be headed by Union Labour and Employment Secretary
- The draft 68th annual report on the functioning of the EPFO for the year 2020-21 was approved, with the recommendation to place it before the Parliament, through Central Government.
- Approval was accorded for development of centralized IT-enabled systems by C-DAC. Post this, the field functionalities will move on a central database in a phased manner enabling smoother operations and enhanced service delivery. The centralized system will facilitate de‐duplication & merger of all PF accounts of any member. It will remove the requirement of transfer of account on change of job.
- The Board decided to empower the Finance Investment & Audit Committee  to decide upon the investment options, on case-to-case basis, for investment in all such asset classes which are included in the Pattern of Investment as notified by Government of India.
During the meeting, Chairman, CBT released a booklet titled ‘Response to Covid - 2.0.’ The booklet is an effort to encapsulate the preparedness of EPFO to innovate and deliver uninterrupted services to its stakeholders during the difficult time of Covid-19 pandemic. The booklet is the second in the series, first version was released in the 228th CBT meeting held in March 2021 at Srinagar.
Chairman, CBT released another booklet titled ‘Nirbadh: seamless service delivery.’ This booklet is a compilation of initiatives taken and strategies adopted by EPFO towards successful digital transformation from ‘EPFO to e-EPFO’ over the last three years. These efforts have enabled EPFO to move towards digitally interacting paperless organization, thereby enhancing ease of living for all its stakeholders.
In the meeting, representatives from the employers, employees and senior officers of the Central Government, State government and EPFO were also present.
Ministry of Defence
ONLINE APPLICATIONS FOR ALL INDIA SAINIK SCHOOLS ENTRANCE EXAM 2023 COMMENCED WITH EFFECT FROM 21 OCTOBER 2022
ADMISSION TO CLASS VI FOR THE ACADEMIC SESSION 2023-24
1. It is for the information of the general public that the process for applying online for the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Exam  2023 has commenced with effect from 21 October 2022. Candidates can apply for AISSEE 2023 “Online” only on the website https://aissee.nta.nic.in. The Application Form other than online mode will not be accepted. The online application will be accepted up to 30 November 2022 . In Sainik School Bhubaneswar in Class VI, both boys and girls will be admitted. The School has notified 103 vacancies for the boys and 12 vacancies for the girls. A candidate should be between 10 and 12 years as on 31 March 2023 for admission to Class VI, i.e. he/she should have been born between 01 April 2011 and 31 March 2013  for admission to the academic year 2023-24.
2. The All India Sainik Schools Entrance Exam is scheduled to be held on 08 January 2023 . It is informed that the State Government of Odisha has implemented uniform scholarship scheme with effect from 2019-20 which is enabling the parents falling under the income group of 3 lakh rupees per annum getting scholarship amount at par with the tuition fee being charged by the School. The State Government has also implement diet subsidy for Odia students studying in the School with effect from the academic session 2022-23, wherein Odia students belonging to Schedule Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes , Defence and General categories are getting 75/- rupees per day for 295 working days, i.e. 22,125/- rupees every year. The current scholarship scheme coupled with the diet subsidy from the state government and financial assistance from the Ministry of Defence has brought Sainik School education within the reach of the common man which is one of the primary objectives behind establishment of Sainik Schools in the country.
3. As per the current arrangement the state government where the school is located provides income based scholarships to the Schedule Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Classes  and General category students of the state and the Ministry of Defence in addition to the Central Share to the state government scholarship holders and Subsidy to all the students studying in the school also grants Defence Scholarship to the Defence category students based on the ranks of their parents serving in or retired from the Army / Navy / Air Force. With a very encouraging system of scholarship schemes in place, now persons from the economically weaker sections of the society can also afford to admit their wards and provide public school education through the Sainik Schools in the state of Odisha.
4. The School also boast state of art smart classrooms, laboratories, well equipped library, sports facilities, well equipped hostels and cadet mess for holistic development of the students. It is, therefore, parents are requested to opt for admission of their wards in Sainik School Bhubaneswar and make best use of this opportunity.
Ministry of Railways
813 major Railway stations accross country now have IP based Video Surveillance System 
Kolkata, 6th July, 2021
Indian Railways and its PSU RailTel have installed IP based Video Surveillance ,cameras at 813 majorRailway stations across country, giving a major boost to safety and security of passengers, especially women and children. The work is in progress at 47 more stations and will be completed soon. By March 2022, 756 stations are targeted to becompleted by Railways and RailTel.
It is a project covering allA1, A, B, C, D and E category railway stations and around 5000 stations are being executed by RailTel. Indian Railways signed a MoU with RailTel on 25.6.2020 for installing CCTV at Stations. In order to promote domestic manufacturing, address national security concerns, clause for audit of complete system by CERT-IN empaneled government agencies and prevent participation of countries sharing land border with India, broad based, robust revised specifications were issued by Indian Railways and based on the same RailTel has floated 4 tendersin May’21 for CCTV at 456 stations.
These CCTVs are being networked on optical fiber cable and the video feed of the CCTV cameras is being displayed not only at local RPF posts but also at a centralized CCTV control room at divisional and zonal level
4 types of IP cameras  are being installed to ensure maximum coverage inside the Railway premises. This will give an extra edge to the RPF officials to improve security.The recording of the video feeds form CCTV cameras will be stored for 30 days.
The work was hampered partially due to covid 19 pandemic lockdown, restrictive supply of material and restrictions on movement. However, with things coming back to normal, the project is now being executed smoothly.
CG/CB
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Ministry of Finance
Mumbai Customs seizes smuggled insecticides valued at around Rs. 16.8 crores
Mumbai, January 24, 2023
During the last one month, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence , Mumbai Zonal Unit intercepted several consignments of insecticides being smuggled into India with the active connivance of the Chinese suppliers of these items. The said smuggling activity was being carried out by a syndicate which was smuggling insecticides, namely Chlorantraniliprole, Abamectin Benzoate, etc. by declaring them as ‘Vinyl Acetate Ethylene Copolymer’. Intercepted consignments weighing 30 MTs with estimated value of around Rs 16.8 crore have been seized under the Customs Act, 1962. The test reports have confirmed the goods to be insecticides.
The import of insecticides legally requires permit from the Central Insecticides Board. The law mandates the importer along with suppliers/manufacturers to get registration from the Board. These rules have been put in place to ensure that proper quality standards are met before usage of insecticides. All these requirements were flouted by the smugglers. Usage of substandard insecticides can be harmful to nature as well as to health of citizens. Further, certain insecticides were patented products and were being brought in violation of the IPR rules.
During the investigation, several pieces of evidence have been recovered which reflect that such smuggling activity has been going on for a long time. The investigation unravelled that the syndicate was operating in complicity with the Chinese suppliers. The Chinese suppliers were intentionally mis-declaring the insecticides as Vinyl Acetate Ethylene Copolymer in their documents to facilitate the smuggling. The illegal proceeds from sale of smuggled insecticides were being sent to the Chinese suppliers through hawala network. Initial investigation suggests that the syndicate have smuggled more than 300 MTs of insecticides in the past whose estimated value may be more than Rs 300 crore. Investigation is on in these cases.
PIB MUMBAI | DRI / DJM/PM
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Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying
Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in collaboration with Veterinary Council of India to celebrate World Veterinary Day- 2023 tomorrow
Theme of the Day is Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness in Veterinary Profession
Main activities include Conference and Panel Discussions on mainstream subjects including veterinary education and services in the country and Role of vets in One Health
The 2023 World Veterinary Day will be celebrated tomorrow . The Day honours the veterinary profession every year on the final Saturday in April. This year the theme of the Day is Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusiveness in the Veterinary Profession
In order to recognize and celebrate the important roles of Veterinarians in animal and human health and welfare, food security, food quality and safety, ecology, drugs and pharmaceuticals development, biomedical research, rural development, as educators, trainers, and policymakers, economic development through livestock production and management and in wildlife conservation, and the protection of the environment and biodiversity, safeguarding our country by preventing the threat of bio terrorism, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in close collaboration with Veterinary Council of India is going to celebrate World Veterinary Day- 2023 on 29thApril, 2023 at New Delhi at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
Shri Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Dr Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying and Shri L. Murugan, Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying will grace the event.
Stakeholders of Veterinary profession across the nation will be invited to the Mega event. Main activities include Conference and Panel Discussions on mainstream subjects including veterinary education and services in the country and Role of vets in One Health.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
“The robust indigenous IgG ELISA test for antibody detection developed by ICMR-NIV, Pune will play a critical role in surveillance for COVID-19”: Dr. Harsh Vardhan
Indian Council of Medical Research -National Institute of Virology  at Pune has developed and validated the indigenous IgG ELISA test “COVID KAVACH ELISA” for antibody detection for COVID-19.
COVID19 pandemic has spread across 214 countries with a total of 38,55,788 confirmed cases and 2,65,862 deaths. Most countries in the world are struggling to contain the pandemic using possible interventions. There is an augmented demand of various types of diagnostic tests by countries all across the globe. Most of the diagnostic material for COVID19 is imported into India from other countries. Therefore, Indian scientists are tirelessly engaged in developing indigenous diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID19.
ICMR-National Institute of Virology , Pune is the apex laboratory of the country with state-of-art infrastructure and expertise for research in virology. NIV’s competent scientific team successfully isolated the SARS-CoV-2 virus from laboratory confirmed patients in India. This in turn has paved the way for development of indigenous diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2.
While real time RT-PCR is the frontline test for clinical diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, robust antibody tests are critical for surveillance to understand the proportion of population exposed to infection.
The scientists at ICMR-NIV, Pune have enthusiastically worked to develop and validate the completely indigenous IgG ELISA test for antibody detection for SARS-CoV-2. The test was validated at two sites in Mumbai and has been found to have high sensitivity and specificity. In addition, the test will have the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours. Moreover, ELISA based testing is easily possible even at district level as the ELISA kit has inactivated virus. There are also minimal bio-safety and bio-security requirements as compared to the real-time RT-PCR test. The test has an advantage of having much higher sensitivity and specificity as compared to the several rapid test kits which have recently flooded the Indian market.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said, “The robust indigenous IgG ELISA test for antibody detection developed by ICMR-NIV, Pune will play a critical role in surveillance of proportion of population exposed to SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus infection.”
ICMR has partnered with Zydus Cadila for mass scale production of the ELISA test kits. After development at ICMR-NIV, Pune, technology has been transferred for mass scale production to Zydus Cadila, which is an innovation driven global healthcare company. Zydus has proactively taken up the challenge to expedite the approvals and commercial production of the ELISA test kits so that they can be made available for use at the earliest. The test is named as “COVID KAVACH ELISA”. This is a perfect example of “Make in India” in record time.
Ministry of Civil Aviation
MoS for Civil Aviation Gen. Dr. V.K Singh  inaugurates direct flight between Delhi to Shimla
Delhi-Shimla-Delhi flight by Alliance air will operate daily from 26th September 2022
Under RCS UDAN, the flight will promote tourism and trade in the region
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Gen. Dr. V.K. Singh and Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Jai Ram Thakur inaugurated a direct flight from Delhi to Shimla at Hindon Airport, Ghaziabad today under RCS UDAN scheme.
The inauguration was graced by Shri Rajiv Bansal, Secretary MoCA, Smt. Usha Padhee, Additional Secretary, MoCA, Shri Suresh Kashyap, MP , Principal Secretary to the GoHP, Shri Devesh Kumar, Shri Vikram Dutt, CMD AIAHL, Shri Vineet Sood, CEO Alliance Air and other dignitaries from MoCA, AAI, Govt of Himachal Pradesh and Alliance Air.
To offer enhanced air connectivity between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Alliance Air have recommenced the Delhi-Shimla-Delhi flight which will operate daily effective from 26th September 2022. This flight will operate with a brand new ATR42-600.
Initially, this flight of Alliance Air was flagged off by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2017. After operating for more than 2 years under UDAN, this flight was discontinued due to the renovation of the airport and the unavailability of suitable aircraft. Meanwhile, AAI has renovated Shimla airport and Alliance Air has inducted ATR-42 aircraft exclusively to connect airports of Himachal Pradesh.
In his address, MoS Gen. Dr V. K. Singh  said that this flight will provide convenience for the people of Shimla and Delhi NCR. The ministry is working to further increase this ATR connectivity from Shimla to Kullu and Shimla to Dharmshala. He congratulated the state government and thanked them for their support and cooperation.
Shri Jairam Thakur, Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh expressed his thanks towards the Ministry of Civil Aviation for providing the ATR connectivity based on the need of the region. He further said that the state government is working towards creating more air connectivity in the state in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
Flight 9I 821 will depart from Delhi at 0710 hrs and arrive in Shimla at 0820 hrs. Flight 9I 822 will depart from Shimla at 0850 hrs and arrive in Delhi at 1000 hrs. The introductory all-inclusive Fares for Delhi-Shimla and Shimla-Delhi will be INR 2141/-.
Ministry of Steel
Investment and Export in Steel Sector
The Government has taken following measures for increasing investment and export in the steel sector:-
- i. Notification of the following policies having impact on investment and export in the steel sector:-
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- National Steel Policy 2017 which envisages inter-alia domestically meeting the entire demand of steel and high-grade automotive steel, electrical steel, special steel and alloys for strategic applications.
- Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products  Policy for promoting procurement of Made in India steel.
- Steel Scrap Recycling Policy to enhance the availability of domestically generated scrap for making steel at competitive prices.
- Steel Import Monitoring System  in order to enhance production through disseminating advance information regarding grades of the imports for enhancing investment and import substitution.
- Production-Linked Incentive  Scheme for Specialty Steel with an outlay of ₹ 6,322 Crore to promote the manufacturing of specialty steel within the country for domestic use and export by attracting Capital investments.
- Establishment of Project Development Cell in the Ministry to attract and facilitate investment in the steel sector.
- ‘Make in India’ initiative and the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, with further engagement with potential users, including from Railways, Defence, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing, Civil Aviation, Road Transport and Highways, Agriculture and Rural Development sectors to enhance the steel usage, overall demand for steel and investment in steel sector in the country.
- Adjustments in basic custom duty on steel products and trade remedial measures like Anti-dumping duty , Countervailing duty  on certain raw materials and steel products to enhance competitiveness of India’s steel sector.
- Other measures to improve Ease of Doing Business and Reducing Compliance burden, Market Access Initiatives , Startup India initiative etc. to help domestic industry in capacity creation, providing level playing field and creating a conducive business environment to attract investments and promote exports.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Steel Shri Ram Chandra Prasad Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.
Special Service and Features
Seizure of 823 grams of Gold worth Rs.36.32 Lakhs by Chennai Air Customs
Chennai Air Customs Officers intercepted a male Passenger named Shri Syed Ibrahim Mohamed Rafi who arrived from Dubai by Air India flight AI-906 on 17.09.2022. On examination of his person, Gold in paste form concealed in the rectum was recovered, which resulted in recovery of 707 grams of 24k of Gold. Further, one Gold chain weighing 116 grams was found concealed in his pant pocket.
A total of 823 Grams of Gold valued @ Rs.36.32 Lakhs was seized under the Customs Act, 1962.
Further investigations under progress, according to a press release issued by M.Mathew Jolly, Pr.Commissioner of Customs, Chennai International Airport.
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